They believe only Afghans can stop the violence against other Afghans. They want to stop the killing of their sons, husbands, brothers, fathers and families.

They have taken their cue from two ordinary women in Ireland who, in the 1970s, grew angry because Irish were killing Irish. These women went door to door and convinced women to march for peace. They later won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Women in Kandahar, the most violent Afghan province, were the first to declare they will gather on March 8th. They wrote:

“Today we drove by the site of the third suicide bomber in three days. We are ready to follow in the footsteps of our Irish sisters. For the past seven years Afghans have celebrated March 8th with cheap gifts given to women to “honor” them. This year, the women in Kandahar loudly say “the best gift for us is peace in our country.”

Please support these brave Afghan women with your signature as they march peacefully to loudly proclaim PEACE NOW on March 8th at 10 am.

2 Responses to “Women In Afghanistan Will March On IWD–They NEED Your Support”

[…] We live in a world where women are facing an epidemic of rape in conflicts from Nepal to Chiapas to the Democratic Republic of Congo, yet neither Clinton nor Obama has seen fit to mention it. Recent reports of the widespread murder of educated women in Iraq by religious extremists are adding new horror to an already horrifying situation but are going almost unreported. Women and children today form the bulk of the world’s refugees and make up the majority of the world’s poor. Despite doing more than two-thirds of the world’s labor, women own only 1 percent of the world’s assets. Yet not one presidential candidate has chosen to highlight the profound threat that gender inequality is posing to the development, economic stability and future peace of our world.” Ramdas is entirely correct. Had Clinton taken the time to truly stand up for women, rather than so arrogantly dismissing issues such as the seriousness of sexual harassment, she would have had the full support of her first constituency, American women. Ramdas points out that of course Obama has not addressed these issues either. He is willing to use force in Afghanistan, but don’t hold your breath waiting for his suport of the women in Kandahar who are marching for peace on International Women’s Day. If he truly wants to be a force of change, this would be the most effective place to start.